Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Wuchak Released in 1944, "Bluebeard" stars John Carradine as a puppeteer in Paris who, apparently, kills young women on the side.This is one of the dullest 'horror' movies I have ever seen. It took me three nights to try to watch it and I still had 20 minutes to go. I fell asleep on all three attempts and don't plan on finishing it anytime soon. I always finish movies with few exceptions and this is one of those exceptions. It's just too dull to finish! The leading lady is a babe (Jean Parker), Caradine is charismatic and the puppet sequences are well done, even amazing, but these are the only positives that come to mind. This movie spends more time wrapped around the investigation of a painting, clothing for puppets, and droll dialogue than anything interesting."Bluebeard" was shot in B&W and is old as dirt, but this wouldn't matter if the story were actually entertaining. There are a lot of ancient movies that stand up to this day because they're great, like "King Kong" (1933), "Tarzan and His Mate" (1939) and "The Wizard of Oz" (1934). Needless to say, "Bluebeard" doesn't rank with them.The movie runs 72 minutes.GRADE: D

Martin Teller Atmospheric period noir, not unlike Brahm's pair of Laird Cregar pictures, with John Carradine doing a fantastic job in the mysterious and haunted Cregar role. Ulmer brings his German expressionist roots with him, crafting some wonderfully off-kilter sequences and areas rich with sharp, deep shadows. The story is tight but not rushed, and the piece as a whole has a creepy mood to it, with a compelling central character. There are two problems, one small and one large. The smaller one is Teala Loring, not the lead female role (which is done quite nicely by Jean Parker) but a fairly significant one, and her delivery is godawful. The larger problem is the score by Leo Erdody. It's not a particularly bad score, but it's layered over single second of the film and mixed very high in the soundtrack. It's far too distracting and overwhelming. I kept waiting for the orchestra to take a break, just for a goddamn minute. Otherwise it's a good film, but once you realize the music is continually going it's hard not to keep thinking about it.

Michael O'Keefe Edgar G. Ulmer directs a very nice piece of Film-Noir starring John Carradine as a serial killer. Gaston(Carradine)is known as the puppet man that puts together puppet shows in the park. What is less known is the fact that he paints portraits of beautiful woman before his compulsive perversion takes over...he strangles the women to death and dumps them in the river. When he meets Lucille(Jean Parker), he fights his urges and asks her to make clothes for his puppets. When she finds out Gaston's horrible secret, she vows to help the local authorities bring him to justice.Carradine is flawless as the menacing artist. And Parker is ravishing as she is talented. Ulmer creates a smooth 19th century Parisian atmosphere to showcase this crime drama. Other strong players: Nis Asther, George Pembroke, Carrie Devan, Teala Loring and Sonia Sorel.

Scarecrow-88 19 Century Paris is plagued by a Bluebeard murdering local streetwalkers by strangling them, leaving their bodies in the river. Come to find out, the serial killer is a tormented artist, a master puppeteer who orchestrates street puppet operas, named Gaston Morrell(John Carradine). Morrell's potential downfall might be his falling in love with Madame Lucille(Jean Parker), a clothing designer and the daughter of an aristocratic Duke who purchased a painting of his featuring a murdered female. Morrell's other obvious problem stems from a sneaky, lying art dealer Lamarte(Ludwig Stössel)who allows him to work in a rent-free dwelling as long as he continues to churn out paintings..under a pseudonym, Morrell doesn't know that Lamarte actually makes fine profits from his work, having him believe they sell modestly. Inspector Lefevre(Nils Asther)is under pressure to find the Bluebeard and believes the key to catching him lies in securing the identity of the artist behind the Duke's painting containing the victim of strangulation. In a tragic turn of events, the Duke will allow his daughter Francine(Teala Loring)to work as a model for Morrell, arranged by Lamarte who sees big bucks(..while understanding that something is amiss with the Duke, having his own concocted plan in order to set up Morrell, while walking away with a hefty sum)in such a sitting..with hopes of catching the Bluebeard, Lefevre places Francine in possible danger, even though the authorities were standing by. Lucille, who stitched a specific cravat, used to strangle someone she loved so dear, will possibly lead to Morrell's downfall.I've been awaiting an opportunity to see Carradine in a role such as the one he has in Edgar G Ulmer's BLUEBEARD. He is front and center with such a complex character;this is the kind of film where Carradine can truly shine. We see a man troubled with different types of feelings, an artist in absolute turmoil. My favorite scene in the film comes right at the end when we get an understanding at why Morrell is committing such violence towards "innocent" women..how painting truly creates a monster. Carradine finally has this grand stage to show what he always had, an ability to display a fractured man, torn between his love for Lucille, and the monster lurking inside, released when the artist realizes that his muses aren't the beauties he creates on canvas. Ulmer is no idiot, and he realizes that Carradine has sinister eyes that can only benefit the camera, but unlike those great Universal turns as Dracula, the actor has a role with meat. Carradine doesn't have the looming shadow of Bela Lugosi hanging over him..Gaston Morrell is all his, and Carradine delivers. Fans of Ulmer understand that this film, despite gorgeous uses of shadow and candle-light(..and matte paintings as handsome backgrounds), is yet another poverty row production shot on low quality film, but his style still shines through...and, for such budget, I think he's rather successful at recreating Paris at that time. And, if anything, we get rooms with secret passageways, such as two places owned by Lamarte, so if you're an Ulmer disciple, there's goodies here for you to salivate over. But, I think Carradine fans owe it to themselves to watch BLUEBEARD, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Major annoyance for me was the musical accompaniment..during key scenes where menacing music should play, there are melodies for westerns or romancers.